Thuren front 1in coils

[Ritchie_Rich]

Hey all,
Is anyone running the Thuren front Softride 1in coils with stock rear coils on a 2500 4x4?
Pics and real world user experience welcome.

 

[johnmyster]

I have them on the front of a 2014 3500 Megacab. Ride improvement was noticeable. I went from just over 1.5" before jounce bumper contact to 2.5". Spring rate is lower. Truck sits somewhere between 3/4 and 1" higher. You'll want a shock with longer extended length but same compressed length. BILSTEIN 24-185776 is a respectable budget option. You'll need to pay considerably more to do better.

 

[johanh13]

I have what you are looking for and love it (see my sig for all the details), here are a few pics... I do some towing, off-roading, highway trips, it's a great combination for me!

 

[johanh13]

Here's a few more pics

 

[Ritchie_Rich]

I have them on the front of a 2014 3500 Megacab. Ride improvement was noticeable. I went from just over 1.5" before jounce bumper contact to 2.5". Spring rate is lower. Truck sits somewhere between 3/4 and 1" higher. You'll want a shock with longer extended length but same compressed length. BILSTEIN 24-185776 is a respectable budget option. You'll need to pay considerably more to do better.

Thanks for the info.

 

[Ritchie_Rich]

I have what you are looking for and love it (see my sig for all the details), here are a few pics... I do some towing, off-roading, highway trips, it's a great combination for me!

Thanks for the reply. How does it ride when empty?

 

[johanh13]

Thanks for the reply. How does it ride when empty?

It definitely rides better than stock - just don’t expect ½-ton plushness. The Carli Kings are firmer than the Fox shocks I had before. They feel more “sporty” and controlled, not floaty. The extra front clearance also helps the suspension do its job a bit better.
I’m running the Carli front sway bar. I like it, but it’s not the night-and-day change some people make it sound like. I’ve tried all the combos: no front sway bar, no sway bars at all, and now the Carli bar. On a completely stock truck, removing the front sway bar actually made the biggest single difference in ride quality.
If I didn’t tow every now and then, I’d probably run the mid-rate rear coils with longer shocks. But for what I do, this setup works really well.
One more thing: going from stock 20s to 17" wheels with 35s - and running proper tire pressure - made a bigger improvement than any of the suspension parts. Wheel/tire setup is way underrated compared to shocks, coils, and sway bars.

 

[Ritchie_Rich]

It definitely rides better than stock - just don’t expect ½-ton plushness. The Carli Kings are firmer than the Fox shocks I had before. They feel more “sporty” and controlled, not floaty. The extra front clearance also helps the suspension do its job a bit better.
I’m running the Carli front sway bar. I like it, but it’s not the night-and-day change some people make it sound like. I’ve tried all the combos: no front sway bar, no sway bars at all, and now the Carli bar. On a completely stock truck, removing the front sway bar actually made the biggest single difference in ride quality.
If I didn’t tow every now and then, I’d probably run the mid-rate rear coils with longer shocks. But for what I do, this setup works really well.
One more thing: going from stock 20s to 17" wheels with 35s - and running proper tire pressure - made a bigger improvement than any of the suspension parts. Wheel/tire setup is way underrated compared to shocks, coils, and sway bars.

Thanks again for the info. I have 18” wheels and stock size tires (not Firestone) and adjusted air pressures. The new tires did help the ride. Not looking for a Caddy type ride, just better than it is now.

 

[johanh13]

Thanks again for the info. I have 18” wheels and stock size tires (not Firestone) and adjusted air pressures. The new tires did help the ride. Not looking for a Caddy type ride, just better than it is now.

You’re welcome. Just to add a little detail on the tire/shock combos I’ve run:
When I had the 275/65R20 BFG KO2s paired with the King shocks, I really liked the firm, planted feel on the highway. The downside was off-pavement - with 55 PSI front and rear, that setup was pretty stiff on rocky paths.
Switching to 17s with 35x12.50s made a noticeable difference. I run 50 PSI all the time now, and the ride over rocky terrain is much better without losing anything meaningful on the highway. The extra sidewall really helps.
I never ran the Fox shocks on the 20s, but I did on my first 2019 Ram 2500 (a Laramie with 18s). That truck had 35x12.50R18 Toyos, Fox shocks, and 1" Thuren coils - and it rode great for what it was.
Between these two trucks, I’ve tried a pretty big mix of setups:

• 2" Thuren coils with OEM Bilsteins + shock spacers
• 2" Thuren coils with Fox 2.0s
• 1" Thuren coils with Fox 2.0s
• 2.5" Carli coils with King 2.5s
• And now 1" Thuren coils with the Carli King 2.5 reservoirs

After bouncing between all these combos, the setup I’m running now strikes the best balance for how I use my truck.


Also, in the first pic, side view, where it's quite level, I had about 2,000 lbs in the bed...

 

[Ritchie_Rich]

Thanks. I tow an 8k TT and only do mild off road occasionally.

 

[AH64ID]

Try removing the front swaybar, cheap and extremely effective.

I’ve run both the Thuren and without any swaybar and without is by far the way to go if you don’t have a high CG load.

 

[Ritchie_Rich]

Thanks for the info. I’ve already done that but still looking for a bit more compliant ride in the front. Thought softer coils would help. I just tow a TT.

 

[johnmyster]

Ballpark, the spring rate of the Thuren coils is roughly 75% of what the stock coils are. Maybe a little less. Plus, you get more travel in both directions.

If you're extremely conscious about how your truck looks when hitched, not only will the front be ~1" higher due to the longer coils, it will rise (due to front axle unweighting) about 33% more than it did with the stock coils. Depending on the tongue weight and WD tension you're using, this might be substantial and it might not. Suspension rise on the front also reduces caster. Again, may or may not be enough to notice. (My truck steers/tracks better hitched.) Before changing my springs (front and rear) my truck sat level with ~1700 pound tongue weight TT attached. Now I'm about an inch lower in the rear despite the unhitched attitude being nearly the same. Spring rates are partially to blame.

If you're like me, you'll add some additional WD tension to counter the impact of softer springs.

Softer front springs will also make any TT-induced see-saw bobbing (pitching of the truck due to tongue weight/unweighting over bumps) more pronounced. You can mitigate this with shocks with lots of low-speed dampening, but this works in the opposite direction of the better ride you're after.

It becomes a game of compromise in how much you setup for towing vs unloaded. Cheap adjustable shocks on the rear have given me some/slight ability to compensate even if not ideal. About half the suspension/steering stuff in my signature wasn't worth the money spent.

These days, the best setup on a 2500 is probably Carli front springs with their track bar and pathfinder shocks. Factory rear springs and airbags if needed. If I had to do it again I'd buy a 2500 and go down that path. I'd guess one could get away with Thuren 1" front springs instead, with the Carli Pathfinder 2.5" shocks, which eliminates the need for the track bar.

 

[AH64ID]

The OP has made multiple posts about not using a WDH, which will likely not be a good thing with softer coils.

A WDH does so much for a ride that I’d run one and the softer coils, but then again I don’t like towing a TT without a WDH even when they aren’t needed. Lots of things aren’t “needed” that make our lives better.

 

[johnmyster]

The OP has made multiple posts about not using a WDH, which will likely not be a good thing with softer coils.

A WDH does so much for a ride that I’d run one and the softer coils, but then again I don’t like towing a TT without a WDH even when they aren’t needed. Lots of things aren’t “needed” that make our lives better.

Good context. I guess it depends on the "how heavy" question, but that's OP's choice. If ride quality is the goal it would seem like an additional tool to move in that direction.

Even with a 160" wheelbase 3500 I'm using WDH and added enough tension that my spring arm pins have become a consumable. It's worth it for the improvement. (Bulk pins are cheap on amazon but will likely redrill for larger pins next season.)

 

[AH64ID]

Good context. I guess it depends on the "how heavy" question, but that's OP's choice. If ride quality is the goal it would seem like an additional tool to move in that direction.

Even with a 3500 I'm using WDH and added enough tension that my spring arm pins have become a consumable. It's worth it for the improvement. (Bulk pins are cheap on amazon but will likely redrill for larger pins next season.)

View attachment 91473

Same, a WDH has been an improvement for all of my previous 3500’s.

We even use one on a 4 horse trailer when it’s loaded with 3 horses since there is so much tongue weight.

I’ve worn out multiple spring bar sockets on ours, but we also use them on some really rough back roads.

 

[Ritchie_Rich]

Thanks everyone for your input.
I’ve decided to leave my truck as is.
The changes I’ve made moved the empty ride to the acceptable side of the scale, and I don’t want to lose the towing stability I have now.

 

[AH64ID]

Thanks everyone for your input.
I’ve decided to leave my truck as is.
The changes I’ve made moved the empty ride to the acceptable side of the scale, and I don’t want to lose the towing stability I have now.

Nothing wrong with sticking with what works. You would likely be noticeably better with a WDH and Thuren coils than stock coils without a WDH, but that’s a chunk of change to guess with.

 

[johnmyster]

that’s a chunk of change to guess with.

FWIW, my thuren coils were $150 on marketplace and the 12k equalizer was $225 plus the $95 curt forged 2.5" shank to avoid using the $5 reducer sleeve. Pay to play but there's always a market to resell to if experiments don't work out.